UN charges internal oversight head over Oil-for-Food scandal News
UN charges internal oversight head over Oil-for-Food scandal

[JURIST] In the wake of Wednesday's second interim report of the UN's Independent Inquiry Committee into the Oil-for-Food Program [IIC homepage] chaired by former Federal Reserve head Paul Volcker, the UN has issued a charge letter to Under-Secretary-General Dileep Nair [Wikipedia biography], head of the UN's Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), alleging improper use of funds. The IIC alleges that Nair used funds from the now defunct Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program [program website] to pay a special assistant, despite the fact the assistant did not perform any work for the program. The UN Staff Council in New York also alleges improper behavior, prompting a possible full external investigation of his tenure at the UN. The UN News Center has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emporer

On December 25, 800 A.D., Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome, Italy. During his lifetime, Charlemagne united most of Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He is credited with spreading the rule of law throughout his dominions as well as starting the French and German monarchies.

President Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederates

On December 25, 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all who had been involved in "insurrection or rebellion" during the US Civil War.